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Pizza Patrón awarded Rick and Monica Sparkman the Patrón of the Year award at its 2011 National Franchise Convention. The brand, celebrating its 25th year in business in April, held the convention in the downtown historic Hilton hotel in Fort Worth, Texas, January 24 and 25.

"It was an exciting convention. The company is always ahead of the curve as far as planning our brand position and how to best reach our core audience," says Rick Sparkman. "I'm proud to be a part of this organization and to have received this award."

The Sparkmans have been with Pizza Patrón for seven years, and are multiunit operators with four stores and one under construction in Houston. Their under-construction location will be the first quick-service pizza (QSP) model for Houston, and it is being built from the ground up at 5800 Bellaire Blvd.

"I'm looking forward to introducing this model to the Houston market," Sparkman says. "The QSP restaurant offers customers the option of drive-thru or lobby service, and it features newly developed FastBake III technology that allows customers to get custom-baked pizzas in under four minutes. It's one of the industry's first truly great innovations in decades."

"We had a great convention with a lot to celebrate in 2011 as we approach our Aniversario de Plata (25th anniversary) in April," says Andrew Gamm, brand director for Pizza Patrón. "Rick and Monica epitomize the Patrón spirit, and have played a key role in helping us make many improvements to our brand over the years. The Patrón of the Year, our top honor for franchise partners, was well deserved and overdue for the Sparkmans."